Apparently you can substitute whey for the liquid in your bread.

Here is a link that might be useful: Whey in bread

I do that all the time, after making Greek yogurt.

dcarch

I use it in many of my breads , primarily my wild yeast sourdough. My whey comes from my kefir cheese process. I add the cheese solids also. I use the whey during the autolyse process as this accomplishes the breakdown of phytates as well which increases the absorption of the nutrients in the grains . I also use the whey in all soups and in curries in place of coconut milk or water. Wherever you see a use for water or milk likely you can sub the whey. I is a wondrous byproduct. Great in smoothies too ! c

It can depend on how much.... There is a protein in whey that is responsible for reduced volume and poor texture in bread, as well as poor symmetry. And it's not just whey, but milk, other dairy products like a lot of cottage cheese in dill or a casserole bread, and hefty additions of powdered milk, or reconstituted powdered milk, as well.

When you come across an old bread recipe where the milk is heated/scalded and cooled, that's not just because ye old milk was unpasteurized, it's because too much dairy in yeast bread can affect the volume, and the crust will end up looking like a rollercoaster ride, instead of nice and smooth. Heating the milk (or whey) to around 180-190-degrees F will alter the whey protein so it doesn't affect the bread, and that's why milk was scalded. Not because it was unpasteurized.

So, you may want to scald the whey first, especially if you are using a large amount.

-Grainlady

I am linking some excellent info on what happens when you heat milk and whey...very informative . I don't use exclusively whey in my breads so have experienced none of the effects the grainlady speaks to. I have never heated milk prior to using in bread in more than 40 yrs of bread baking..only ever heat to 100 degrees...have never had a bad loaf ;) as in most things..user beware ! c

Here is a link that might be useful: heating milk and whey

Thanks everyone. Going to try a loaf tomorrow.

But...doesn't pasteurizing milk suffice for heating it? My mother gave up scalding the milk in the 1960's and she never had rollercoaster crusts or poor rises.

plllog...yep...like " always cut the end off of the roast "...hmm..why ? Oh because my baking pan was short !! We follow the footsteps unquestioningly . Have baked, as I said for over 40 years with milk, and never ever heated to greater than 100...just enough so I could proof the yeast and no more. Never have had a failed loaf. Just goes to show..have to ? the rationale on all things. Happy Baking ! c

plllog-

As I said earlier, it often depends upon how much..... If you have a copy of Shirley O. Corriher's excellent book, "CookWise", check out page 80 for the information. She had this issue with bread when she increased nonfat dry milk in a recipe to 1/2-cup. She says at the end of the information, "I imagine you will find that it does not matter in some recipes, but it may in others." And goes on to say, "Personally I am going to scald both milk and reconstituted nonfat dry milk just for my own peace of mind."

It's been several years ago now, but someone here in the group posted the information from "CookWise" (copyright 1997) when we had a discussion on the subject and that's when I purchased "CookWise" and fell in love with the cute as a button Shirley Corriher (who was often a guest on Alton Brown's show) with all her cooking science as a trained chemist.

Michigan State University researchers, T. Volpe and M.E. Zabic, isolated the protein in whey that was responsible for the reduced volume and poor texture. And as you can see, the protein is also present in nonfat dry milk.

I also have information from Oregon State University (Sept. 2005) on the subject: "There is an unknown constituent within milk that will weaken gluten. The constituent is likely one of the whey proteins acting somewhat as a protease. Scalding denatures it. If not done, the loaf will have a course structure and decreased volume ....."

On a personal note, I was trying to develop a high-protein bread with copious additions of whey-based milk substitute powder and vital wheat gluten for about 20% of the flour in the recipe and ended up with lots of bread problems characteristic to those associated with the whey protein. I also experimented using sweet dairy whey powder in sweet dough recipes, to get sweetness without all the additional sugar, and encountered the same problems. So those are examples that are out-of-the-ordinary in the testing world - not a regular recipe.

An old family favorite for Dill Bread has 2-cups of cottage cheese in the recipe. If I heat the cottage cheese, then cool to room temperature before adding it to the dough, I don't have a problem. But if it's only room temperature, the bread has a lumpy (rollercoaster-like) crust that gets huge bubbles and separates from the crumb. I would often see similar recipes when judging yeast breads at County Fairs with the same poor bread characteristics. I eventually switched to a Dill Bread recipe that has 1/2 c. plain yogurt (I generally used kefir curd with some of the whey drained) and I got much better bread quality.

Until one tries the loaf with AND without scalding the milk, they will not know if scalding will alter the bread texture and loaf characteristics.

The same goes for adding the fat to a bread recipe. You can make the same enriched dough recipe with the same ingredients, and when you add the fat late in the kneading (after the gluten has developed), the loaf will be higher and lighter with a more open texture. When you add the fat early in the mixing, it shortens the gluten and the result is a more dense, tender, compact, almost cake-like loaf. Neither is right or wrong, it's just information to know if you would like to alter the end product. A more open texture is nicer for toasting (the holes are great for holding butter and jam), while a dense texture will work well for a sandwich-type application (meat spreads and condiments don't fall through a dense crumb texture).

-Grainlady

Interesting, Grainlady. So, I infer that you mean that pasteurization isn't enough heating to sub for scalding.

I've made challah with and without milk, though not with scalded milk (not counting playing in the kitchen while Mom did it). I have seen the bubbles under the crust you talked about, but I think I've gotten them in non-dairy rounds as well.

Thanks for explaining the early vs. late fat. The challah, which is definitely "tender" and "almost cake-like" but not dense. I'm not sure on compact. If that means close texture, then yes, but it's also very airy and light for all that the holes are small. I haven't looked at the gluten under a microscope, but one can see the texture lines running through.

I make other rich breads that call for the fat to be added late, and I do see the difference, now that you mention it.

Thanks for the lesson.